Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon

[Achim]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season
Year: 2008
Rating: NR
Length: 964 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish

Stars:
1. Samson and Delilah
Lena Headey
Thomas Dekker
Summer Glau
Brian Austin Green

Plot:
The hunt is on in a season of powerful revelations, breathless pursuits and bravura effects. A mysterious 3-dot symbol (do UFOs provide a clue?), a girlfriend for John (is Cameron jealous?), a mysterious tech company ZeiraCorp (can it master the renegade software called Turk?) - Season 2's 5-disc action arsenal is locked, loaded, ready to amaze.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes

#	Episode	Tom from here	Matthias	Achim
01	Samson and Delilah
02	Automatic for the People
03	The Mousetrap
04	Allison from Palmdale
05	Goodbye to All That
06	The Tower Is Tall But the Fall Is Short
07	Brothers of Nablus
08	Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today
09	Complications
10	Strange Things Happen at the One-Two Point
11	Self Made Man
12	Alpine Fields
13	Earthlings Welcome Here
14	The Good Wound		-
15	Desert Cantos
16	Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep
17	Ourselves Alone
18	Today Is the Day - Part 1
19	Today Is the Day - Part 2
20	To the Lighthouse
21	Adam Raised a Cain
22	Born to Run

[Achim]

1. Samson and Delilah
Rocked by the Jeep explosion, Cameron reverts back to her original mission: Terminate John Connor.  Will he be able to save himself?


My opinion:
After a rather brief summary of season 2 the episodes picks up exactly at the moment where season 1 ended. I highly enjoyed the first 5 minutes, where the dialog-free action on screen was edited to a song (which I liked, guess that helped). The main chunk of the episode is about the chase and the question if they will kill Cameron or be able to get her back on their side; and the related internal group conflict. Somewhere else a new character is introduced which puts that "Turk" storyline right back into gear.

Spoiler: about the end (hover to show)

Not much of a surprise really, but it was sure nice to have a T-1000 (or higher) make an appearance.

With a good amount of action this episode is a good starting point and makes me look forward for more. Summer obviously had fun being the bad guy (liked the scene where she fixes her face). Only problem I (still) have is, that Thomas Dekker somehow looks too old for the role. As some point they refer to him as a teenager which he is clearly not.

Rating:

[Achim]

2. Automatic for the People
A new friend infiltrates John’s social life while Sarah and Cameron infiltrate a nuclear power plant to find its connection to Skynet.


My opinion:
After the first episode opened with a bang the second pulls back a bit and goes in to explore some emotional issues. On the one hand there is mistrust, which obviously is a problematic thing for our little group. Then there is John's desire to be "normal", not having to have the burden of being the hope for humankind's future, which in turn causes conflict with Sarah. Sarah also has to deal with her knowledge of her future death by cancer, or does she...? All this is surrounded by a "problem of the week", which eventually provides some action towards the end.

Quite a solid episode which does some good character progression. Somehow I found Summer Glau's performance a little bit phoned in in this one

[Achim]

3 . The Mousetrap
It’s a slick game of cat-and-mouse when Cromartie kidnaps Charley’s wife.  Can Cameron protect John like he protected her?

My comments:
A very emotional and suspenseful episode. I shortened the synopsis as it gives a great twist away, which at least I didn't see coming. The episode continues to explore the theme of the dangers that come with John trying to break free and Sarah trying to protect him by not giving him all the details.

I keep being troubled by the actor who plays Cromartie; not only does he not come across a threatening to me, I even find he looks a bit like Michael Biehn in the first movie.

[Achim]

4.  ALLISON FROM PALMDALE
Cameron goes missing after her glitch returns, sending a desperate John in search of her and revealing her true origin.

My comments:
This episode was all ober the place, loose threads dangling about rather incoherently. Sarah's storyline was incredibly boring, although Busy Philipps (Freaks and Geeks) kept me somewhat interested with her acting. Agent James Allison's path evolves ever so slightly. Cameron's section however kept me excited whenever it was on screen, The cover blurb is slightly off, John doesn't learn of her origins, but we do.

Best bits: When Cameron calls home and when the reality of the "flashbacks" is revealed.

Worst bit:

Spoiler (hover to show)

A Terminator shedding tears. *facepalm*

(in average between the different story lines)

[goodguy]

I keep being troubled by the actor who plays Cromartie; not only does he not come across a threatening to me, I even find he looks a bit like Michael Biehn in the first movie.

That would be Garret Dillahunt. I first saw him on HBO's Deadwood, where he played two very different roles, then on John from Cincinnati (also HBO). I find him to be a very remarkable actor and I think he is perfect as Cromartie.

BTW, don't worry that you are doing this all alone. I will definitely join you, maybe even later today.

[Critter]

I watched the second series of this towards the end of last year and loved it. Allison from Palmdale was one of my favourite episodes. Great marathon 

[Achim]

That would be Garret Dillahunt. I first saw him on HBO's Deadwood, where he played two very different roles, then on John from Cincinnati (also HBO). I find him to be a very remarkable actor and I think he is perfect as Cromartie.

Is acting is fine. I was referring to the shot where he shows up behind Charley's wife after the phone call and I thought: He seems like a nice guy

BTW, don't worry that you are doing this all alone. I will definitely join you, maybe even later today.

I was beginning to worry Thanks, it's definitely more fun to compare notes. I believe Rich had also shown interest, I hope he'll find time to join, too. Others...? I can easily expand the ratings table....

[goodguy]

2x01 Samson and Delilah
Synopsis: See Achim's post.
My Rating:

Bad things first: The opening credits/intro (whatever you call it) has gotten even worse than in S1. Thankfully, they drop it after a few episodes. And: The final men's room sight gag was downright awful. IIRC, everyone on Friedman's team said so, but he insisted on it. A clear case where everyone was right and the creator was not.

With that out of the way: Like Achim, I really liked the opening slo-mo action sequence, accompanied by Shirley Manson's and Bear McCreary's version of the old traditional "Samson and Delilah". It is worth mentioning that not only did they take out the dialogue, but also most of the sound, save for some key bits that neatly merge with the song. It is a wonderful piece of editing and music, which elevates what otherwise could have been a so-so action scene to an entirely different level and IMHO even tops the use of the Johnny Cash song in the S1 finale.

Naturally, the entire episode can't be as high-concept as the opening, but a certain tone and theme is set, making something that essentially is a prolonged chase worth watching.

Summer Glau is great in evil and visibly damaged Terminator mode. She tacks on her face with a stapler, punches a speeding car out of its track and has time for a little T2-nod (Call to him). That's peanuts though compared to what she does when she is finally trapped and Jon is about to remove her chip. In an amazingly creepy and chilling scene she suddenly starts begging for her (machine) life like a frightened child.

As for Shirley Manson as corporate bitch? I was less than thrilled by her addition to the cast. Great song, lady, but the acting - not so much. Fortunately, it will get better in upcoming episodes.

[Achim]

Good review, I agree to every point you made.

Your second to last paragraph made me add the "Worst bit" to my review of episode 4.

[goodguy]

Good review, I agree to every point you made.

Your second to last paragraph made me add the "Worst bit" to my review of episode 4.

Huh? Not sure how you read my comment, but I loved that scene in 2x01. We are obviously to assume that she fakes it and Sarah hammers that point home later. But it is exactly that insistence that makes you wonder. As for 2x04, I thought it was the best episode of the first four. I agree that it is a little strange, including the "worst" moment you cited, but in its strangeness it made sense to me (if that makes sense ) and it reflects back nicely to a number of things in 2x01. I will get to it in more detail when I rewatch it.

[Tom]

In retrospect

Spoiler (hover to show)

this scene was very fitting

. We probably have to talk about this again after you have finished the season.

[goodguy]

2x02 Automatic for the People
Synopsis: See Achim's post.
My Rating:

I liked the episode much better this time around. Part of it probably is simply being in the right or wrong mood, part of it is knowing how certain things will play out.

For example, I wasn't too keen about the introduction of Riley in this episode, because there already was a mystery girl in S1 and nothing came out of it. Now, I could appreciate her more and really liked the scenes between John and her. BTW, I noticed that the story outline concerning Riley is almost literally spilled out by someone else:

Spoiler (hover to show)

Cameron: Things have changed, John.
John: What things?
Cameron: You can't be trusted anymore.
John: Me? *I* can't be trusted anymore?
Cameron: You risked your life to fix me. That was a very dangerous thing to do. That could upset people.
John (looking back at Sarah and Derek): They'll have to deal with it.
Cameron: Not them.

The entire plot of the dying guy busting in to deliver a message from the future, and the subsequent infiltration of the power plant made me roll my eyes so much, I missed the finer points of the episode. And than they ended the episode with a shot of our heroes staring at bloody (!) messages on a wall, outlining the future missions of the week. That really threw me off.

I still think the entire thing is somewhat ridiculous and the vague biblical allusion barely saves it. But it doesn't bother me so much any longer. And the supposedly suspenseful scenes of Sarah sneaking around in the power plant still drag, but in reality that's only a small part of the episode and I'm now actually thankful that they don't bore me with too much details about how they managed to get in.

As Achim rightly noted, the episode is much more about the character issues than the action, although some of these issues are a bit murky at this point, especially when it comes to John.

I can't agree about Glau phoning it in, though. Obviously something is different with Cameron, and she conveys that quite well. I especially liked her final scene with Sarah, the repeated (and perfectly reasonable) "I don't know" to Sarah questions culminating in the "Am I?" punch line.

[Achim]

First of all guys, can we add comments to the spoiler tags if the spoiler is not (only) about the current but also future episodes? having seen the episodes under discussion I felt safe and ended up reading Tom's comment about Cameron's scene (not 100% if it's the tears or the one from episode 1, but either way...) and Matthias' comment about Riley. Maybe I am reading too much into them, but it may now see things in a different light. Thank you

Huh? Not sure how you read my comment, but I loved that scene in 2x01. We are obviously to assume that she fakes it and Sarah hammers that point home later. But it is exactly that insistence that makes you wonder.

You're paragraph merely reminde me of the scene in episode for, where Cameron sheds a tear... I do entirely agree on the awesomeness of the scene in episode 1, when Cameron successfully fools John.

The entire plot of the dying guy busting in to deliver a message from the future, and the subsequent infiltration of the power plant made me roll my eyes so much, I missed the finer points of the episode. And than they ended the episode with a shot of our heroes staring at bloody (!) messages on a wall, outlining the future missions of the week. That really threw me off.

´
I agree about the plot points but found the concept very interesting, that the guy was shot at in the future and the bullet entered the travel-pod with him, only actually reaching him when he reaches his destination (we see the bullet hitting him).

[Tom]

First of all guys, can we add comments to the spoiler tags if the spoiler is not (only) about the current but also future episodes? having seen the episodes under discussion I felt safe and ended up reading Tom's comment about Cameron's scene (not 100% if it's the tears or the one from episode 1, but either way...) and Matthias' comment about Riley. Maybe I am reading too much into them, but it may now see things in a different light. Thank you

Sorry. I thought it was obvious that I used the spoiler tag for your benefit. Especially with my comment after the tag. I will be more clear the next time. I hope I didn't spoil it too much for you.